Independent Medical Alliance Praises MAHA Commission Report as Transformative Blueprint for Children’s Health
FULL STATEMENT: (Washington, DC) – The Independent Medical Alliance – a coalition of independent doctors, healthcare providers, and researchers – today praised the release of the Make Our Children Healthy Again (MAHA) Strategy, calling it a groundbreaking shift in federal health policy that prioritizes prevention, lifestyle, and transparency over pharmaceutical dependency.
The MAHA Commission, created by President Trump’s Executive Order, was tasked with addressing the alarming rise in childhood chronic disease. The strategy released today outlines sweeping reforms across federal agencies to tackle root causes of illness—including poor diet, chemical exposure, lack of physical activity, chronic stress, and overmedicalization.
“This is simply an incredible reset for America’s healthcare focus, and it’s the most comprehensive and consequential reform blueprint of any federal agency that I’ve ever seen,” said Dr. Joseph Varon, IMA President and Chief Medical Officer. “For decades, an entire pharmaceutical industry has been built around masking symptoms of America’s chronic illness epidemic. Secretary Kennedy’s leadership at HHS is charting a different course—one that mobilizes an all-of-government approach to restore the health of our children by addressing the real causes of disease.”
The MAHA recommendations span from diet health to widespread chemical exposure, physical activity, overmedicalization, mental health, conflicts of interest, and more. The IMA highlighted several priorities in the MAHA strategy:
• Medical Education Reform: The report calls for reform of medical school curricula and accreditation, which the IMA views as critical to reducing Big Pharma’s outsized influence. “The wondrous ability of the human body to self-correct, and the role of healthy behaviors in preventing disease, must once again become the foundation of medical training,” Dr. Varon said.
• Focus on Lifestyle and Nutrition: The recommendations emphasize the importance of whole, minimally processed foods, physical fitness, and mental well-being as central to reducing childhood illness. “The report rightly returns medicine to whole-body health—looking at nutrition, environment, stress, and lifestyle. By focusing on root causes instead of symptoms, we can finally begin to reverse the chronic disease epidemic in America’s children,” said Dr. Varon.
• Vaccine Research and Injury: The IMA strongly supports new federal commitments to investigate vaccine safety and injury with more robust data, transparency, and independent science. “Families deserve answers grounded in evidence, not politics. This is a long-overdue step toward rebuilding trust,” Dr. Varon said.
• Transparency and Conflict-of-Interest Safeguards: The strategy outlines new steps to curb conflicts of interest in regulatory and research bodies, helping ensure that guidance and recommendations are based on independent, gold-standard science.
• Expanding Research: The strategy calls for advanced research into topics such as autism, vaccine injury, water and air quality, microplastics, and the health impacts of screen time, with a focus on real-world data and human-relevant models.
IMA views the MAHA strategy as a turning point in U.S. healthcare, moving from a system designed to manage chronic illness with pharmaceuticals to one focused on preventing disease, restoring wellness, and empowering families.
“The science is clear—there’s no better intervention than healthy habits,” said Dr. Varon. “This report represents a fundamental shift away from reactive medicine and toward a preventive model that will change the trajectory of American health for generations.”
The Independent Medical Alliance will continue to support the implementation of these reforms and work alongside policymakers to ensure the MAHA strategy fulfills its promise of restoring the health of America’s children.